Devices for moving or controlling the movement of rail wagons and the like



Feb. 11, 1969 R BELUNGER ET AL 3,426,702

DEVICES FOR MOVING OR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT 5 f M y 0 MT HM mwi t I eRE N m l E wIa s 6 G a N0 L= P1 L L.@ M E M Y I L B Q. w P E 5L H M M wWWW a N DRJC A q m O V/ M m W L I M m 6 6 9 l 4 2 on e D d e l i F Feb.11, 1969 BELLINGER ET AL 3,426,702

DEVICES FOR MOVING OR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT OF RAIL WAGONS AND THELIKE Sheetiofs Filed Dec. 23, 19 6 Feb. 11, 1969 R. BELLINGER ET ALDEVICES FOR MOVING OR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT OF RAIL WAGONS AND THELIKE Sheet of 5 Filed Dec. 23, 1966 Feb 11, 1969 R BELUNGER ET AL3,426,702

DEVICES FOR MOVING OR CONTROLLING THE MOVEME OF RAIL WAGONS AND THE LIKEFiled Dec. 25, 1966 Sheet i of5 Feb. 11, 1969 R. BELLINGER ETAL-3,426,702

DEVICES FOR MOVING OR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT 0F RAIL WAGONS AND THELIKE Filed Dec. 23, 1966 Sheet 5 of 5 gaCMue y United States PatentOfiice 3,426,702 Patented Feb. 11, 1969 US. Cl. 104-176 6 Claims Int.Cl. B61b 13/12 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for effecting andcontrolling the movement of a railway wagon on a railway track by meansof a carriage mounted on a separate track for movement parallel to saidrailway track said carriage having at least one arm movable to and froman operable position for contact with a wagon on said railway track bymeans of a movable actuating member on said carriage wherein movement ofsaid arm is effected frictionally by contact between a first frictionsurface on said actuating member and any part of a second frictionsurface extending parallel to said railway track. Said second frictionsurface may be a rail on which said carriage is movably supported.

This invention relates to devices for moving or controlling the movementof rail wagons and the like of the kind comprising a carriage adapted tobe propelled on a track disposed parallel to the rails for the railwagons and having arms adapted to be moved into or out of the path ofthe wagons to propel said wagon or control its movement such devicebeing hereinafter referred to as a device of the kind described.

In devices of the kind described various arrangements have been proposedfor effecting the movement of the arms automatically by the change intension of the hauling rope or chain for example so that the provisionof separate power source is avoided. In our prior U.K. Patent No.714,598 the carriage was mounted on skids and use was made of theresistance to movement of the carriage due to the friction of the skidson the track to cause the tension in the haulage rope or chain toactuate the mechanism for moving said arm actuating mechanism.

According to the present invention there is provided a device of thekind described wherein the mechanism on said carriage for moving saidarm or arms includes a movable member adapted to engage a complementaryfixed member arranged along the path of said carriage. The engagementbetween the fixed and movable members may be frictional and may consistin the provision of friction pads carried on one or more of the arms sothat the forces of friction act directly thereon and in this way themovement of the arms into or out of the path of the wagon is effected bymovement of the carriage on its track and consequently is independent ofthe tension in the hauling rope or chain for propelling the carriage.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of one form of device made inaccordance with the present invention in which the upper half of the topplating has been removed;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the device, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line lV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a part sectional view of the friction member assembly shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic fragmentary plan view of a modified form ofdevice made in accordance with the present invention showing the arms inthe projected position;

FIG. 7 is a view of the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 6 showing the armsin the withdrawn position;

FIG. 8 is a part sectional elevation of one of the friction membersembodied in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a section on the line IX-IX of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are part plan and sectional elevation respectively of amodified form of movable member assembly.

In the form shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 the device comprises a fabricatedsheet metal carriage body 2 of roughly rectangular shape in plan at thefour corners of which arebrackets 4 in which are mounted flanged wheels6 shown supporting the carriage 2 on rails 8. The frame of the body 2 isof roughly I shape having end wheel carrying transverse beams 10 joinedby a central longitudinal beam 12 of box section provided withdiagonally arranged transverse members 14 between which the sides of thelongitudinal beam 12 are cut away to provide apertures 16 on both sidesthrough which a single pivoted arm 18 projects said arm being mountedcentrally in the longitudinal beam 12 on a fixed pivot pin 20 (FIG. 4)secured in the top and bottom members of the box section. The arm 18 isof box section provided with a central boss 22 which is journalled onthe pin 20 and carries one member of a thrust ball bearing 24. The arm18 is capable of a small axial movement on the pin 20 being supported bya spring 26. As will be seen from FIG. 5 the right hand end of the arm18 carries a pair of brackets 28 between which is mounted a lever 30 ona pivot pin 31 secured in the brackets 28. At the free end of the lever30 is mounted a circular friction pad 32 positioned over the rail 8 andlarge enough in diameter to maintain contact with the rail 8 at alltimes during movement of the carriage. In the example shown the pad 32is held pressed onto the rail 8 by a compression spring 34 actingbetween the pivoted arm 18 and the lever 30 (FIG. 5). A stop 36 on thebody 2 limits the pivotal movement of the arm 18 which is shown in chainline in FIG. 1 against said stop this being the withdrawn position ofthe arm 18 indicated in chain lines. The pivoted arm 18 is provided withupper and lower rollers 38 and 40 the upper being adapted to contact awagon wheel 42 indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 2 whilst the lowerrolls on the rail 44 of the wagon wheel track. The are described by thefriction pad 32 is indicated by the chain line 46. For the propulsion ofthe carriage body 2 a shock absorber assembly 46 is shown secured to therear end thereof for attachment thereto fore and aft of a haulage line(not shown) any convenient form of shock absorber may be employed solong as it provides the desired amount of yield to smooth out any normalshocks which may occur when the wagon wheels are engaged.

In operation as the carriage body 2 is hauled in either direction thefriction between the pad 32 and the rail 8 will swing the arm 18 aboutthe pin 20 either to extend the arm 18 to the position shown in fulllines in FIG. 1 when moved to the right or to the withdrawn positionshown chain dotted when haulted to the left. In the extended positionthe upper rollers 38 will engage a wagon wheel as shown in FIG. 2 andthe wagon can be propelled by the hauling means. Obviously the pivotalmovement of the arm 18 will provide a balance of the propelling force onthe two wheels engaged by the rollers on the two arm ends.

Turning now to FIGS. 6 to 9 it will be seen that instead of a singlepivoted arm 18 there are two substantially identical pivoted arms 60mounted on the fixed pin 20 these arms 60 being linked together and to aroller 62 by links 64 said roller 62 being positioned loosely in a guide66. In the form illustrated two friction pads 32 are provided, one oneach arm but owing to the linkage one pad would suffice. The playbetween the roller 62 and the guide 66 allows the propelling force onthe wagon to be balanced between the two arms. A stop 68 On thelongitudinal beam 12 limits the extension of the arms 60 and atransverse plate 70 provides a limit stop for the withdrawn position ofthe arms 60 shown in FIG. 7. The operation of this modified form isfunctionally the same as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 8 is almost identical with FIG. and FIG. 9 with FIG. 4 and theappropriate reference numerals have been added to the figures.

In the modified form of movable member assembly illustrated in FIGS. and11 there is provided at the free end of the pivoted lever 30 a cubicblock 70 of sufficient weight to provide the pressure required. Theblock 70 is turnably carried on a pin 72 mounted on the arm 30transversely to the fixed rail, and is provided with a friction pad 32for alternative use on each of four of its faces not traversed by pin72. The block 70 is provided with four drilled and tapped holes 74 oneach of the faces traversed by the pin 72 for engagement by lockingscrews 76 which are inserted through correspondingly positioned holes inthe arm 30. With this construction should excessive wear occur to thatpad 32 which is in frictional contact with the beetle rail 8 the screws76 can be removed and the block 70 turned to present another pad 32 andthe screws 76 re-engaged.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A railway wagon control apparatus comprising, in combination,

a carriage mounted for movement parallel to the path of a wagon,

a movable arm mounted on said carriage for movement into and out of thepath of a wagon,

a movable actuating member on said carriage,

a connection between said member and said arm, and

a first friction surface on said member for contact with a secondfriction surface arranged parallel to said wagon path.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said movable actuating memberis supported on said movable arm.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said movable actuating memberis yieldingly supported on said movable arm.

4. A railway wagon control apparatus comprising, in combination,

a carriage,

10 a track for said carriage arranged parallel to the track for thewagon to-be controlled thereon,

a movable arm mounted on said carriage for movement into and out of thepath of said wagon, a movable actuating member on said carriage,

a connection between said member and said arm,

a first friction surface on said movable actuating member,

a contact member mounted parallel to and extending along said track foroperable engagement by said movable actuating member where control is tobe effected, and

a second friction surface on said contact member for engagement by saidfirst friction surface.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said con- 5 tact member is oneof the rails of the track on which said carriage is supported.

6. A railway wagon control apparatus comprising, in combination,

a carriage arranged to be propelled on a track,

a railed track disposed parallel to rails on which railway wagons aremovably supported,

two movable arms on said carriage movable into or out of contact with arailway wagon on said rails,

a friction linkage joining said arms, and

a member on each said movable arms each positioned for engagement withsaid railed track on which the carriage is supported.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 1/1966 Great Britain.

US. Cl. X.R. 104-178

